Oppn flays CBI's reported decision to close case against Mulayam

New Delhi: Opposition parties on Saturday attacked the government over CBI's decision to close a disproportionate asset case against Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav alleging the agency was being used as a tool to further political interests.

The parties, including BJP, BJD and CPI(M), charged the Congress-led UPA government was behind the agency's reported decision to file the closure report in the DA case against Yadav.

BJP charged Congress has had some understanding with Samajwadi Party in the present Lok Sabha and whenever it has to get the support of the party for passage of a Bill or a resolution, the government uses CBI against Yadav.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said CBI's decision to file the closure report may have prompted the party to say it will support the Food Security bill.

Latest reports, however, suggest that Yadav may oppose it in Parliament.

Yadav, however, said he was not aware of CBI's move to file a closure report. "I do not know about it. I do not know how you came to know about it," Yadav told reporters in Lucknow.

He also said the government could convene an all-party meeting on the food law.

Baijayant Panda of Biju Janata Dal said it was not good to use CBI as a political tool.

"We hope that the Supreme Court will take a view on this and not let it happen," he said.

Atul Anjan of CPI said CBI is once again in the centre of a discussion on "whether it will act to the wishes of Congress party."

In November 2005, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the assets of Mulayam Singh, his sons Akhilesh and Prateek, and daughter-in-law Dimple. It was alleged the family had acquired properties worth over Rs 100 crore in UP, disproportionate to known sources of their income.